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America’s perplexing brand of Saint Patrick’s Day

A disheveled Irish wannabe who will gladly drink to Saint Patrick’s Day but not so comfortably to St. Patty’s Day.

Saint Patrick’s Day finished with me in my pajamas watching a late-night episode of the Simpsons, in which our favorite bright-yellow family make a trip to Dublin.

The episode even had them visiting the Guinness Storehouse, which I wrote about previously in this blog and did so again for a Saint Patrick’s Day-related article for Culture Map Austin (it’s worth checking out if only for the link to the Guinness “Surfer” advertisement).

Along Austin’s streets, bars’ hoardings welcomed punters in to celebrate St. Patty’s Day, the common American reference to the day and which reminds one of American’s urgent need, it often appears, to re-brand and co-opt everything in their own, particular fashion.

It’s not a big deal, I guess, but it just doesn’t make sense. Maybe if it was Saint Patricia’s Day. But it isn’t. It’s Saint Patrick’s Day. So why the Patty? Oh, well, America, it’s your playground, you call the shots.

Cool line from Rudyard Kipling

The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.